Impatiens hawkeri cultivar Kipaqui.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of New Guinea Impatiens plant, botanically known as Impatiens hawkeri, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name Kipaqui.
The new Impatiens is a product of a planned breeding program Inventor in Gensingen, Germany. The objective of the breeding program is to develop new Impatiens cultivars with interesting and unique flower and foliage colors.
The new Impatiens originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in September, 1997 of the Impatiens hawkeri cultivar Kinic, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,412, as the female, or seed parent, with a proprietary Impatiens hawkeri selection identified as LL 739, not patented, as the male, or pollen parent. The cultivar Kipaqui was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Gensingen, Germany in April, 1998.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken at Gensingen, Germany, since May, 1998, has shown that the unique features of this new Impatiens are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Kipaquixe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Kipaquixe2x80x99 as a new and distinct Impatiens cultivar:
1. Rounded, upright and compact plant habit.
2. Freely branching growth habit; bushy appearance.
3. Dark green-colored foliage.
4. Freely flowering habit with flowers positioned above or beyond the foliage.
5. Red purple-colored flowers with darker red purple-colored centers.
Plants of the new Impatiens differ from plants of the female parent, the cultivar Kinic, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Impatiens are larger and more mounded than plants of the cultivar Kinic.
2. Plants of the new Impatiens have larger leaves than plants of the cultivar Kinic.
3. Plants of the new Impatiens have larger flatter flowers than plants of the cultivar Kinic.
4. Plants of the new Impatiens have red purple-colored flowers whereas plants of the cultivar Kinic have pink-colored flowers.
Plants of the new Impatiens differ from plants of the male parent, the selection LL 739, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Impatiens are not as vigorous as plants of the selection LL 739.
2. Plants of the new Impatiens have more green-colored leaves than plants of the selection LL 739.
3. Plants of the new Impatiens flower earlier than plants of the selection LL 739.
4. Plants of the new Impatiens have red purple-colored flowers whereas plants of the selection LL 739 have dark purple-colored flowers.
Plants of the new Impatiens can be compared to plants of the cultivar Kicarl, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,370. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Gensingen, Germany, plants of the new Impatiens differed from plants of the cultivar Kicarl in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Impatiens were more compact and not as vigorous as plants of the cultivar Kicarl.
2. Plants of the new Impatiens had more green-colored leaves than plants of the cultivar Kicarl.
3. Plants of the new Impatiens had smaller flowers than plants of the cultivar Kicarl.
4. Plants of the new Impatiens were more freely flowering than plants of the cultivar Kicarl.
5. Plants of the new Impatiens had lighter colored flowers than plants of the cultivar Kicarl.